To celebrate its 10th year anniversary in style, San Francisco music festival Outside Lands, the first festival to bring focus to gourmet food and drink experience, will return with over 78 restaurants, 40+ wineries, 28 breweries and 8 over-the-top food and drink destinations: A Taste of the Bay Area, Wine Lands, Beer Lands, Cheese Lands, Outside Clams, Choco Lands, Cocktail Magic and GastroMagic.
A Taste of the Bay Area
San Francisco restaurateur Anna Weinberg joins Outside Lands this year, serving as the new curator of “A Taste of the Bay Area.” Weinberg’s restaurant Marlowe joins the exciting roster of restaurants and will feature its signature Marlowe Burger.
“It’s crazy to be able to dance with Metallica and Lorde while eating porcini doughnuts from Rich Table, but that’s exactly what we’ll be doing at Outside Lands,” said Weinberg. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to curate the 2017 culinary program, and bring festival-goers truly amazing dining options to fuel their way through three days of awesome music and debaucherous fun.”
Other newcomers include Tartine Manufactory, recently named by Food & Wine as one of its ten “Restaurants of the Year 2017,” Filipino restaurant FOB Kitchen, serving Shanghai Lumpia and Sticky Wings, and Bay Area favorite Smitten Ice Cream, bringing its Cookie Dough Pretzel Ice Cream to Outside Lands. Additional first-time vendors include: Alba Ray’s, Cheese Steak Shop, Dabba, Izakaya Sozai, Little Star Pizza, Boba Guys, and Fearless Coffee.
Both Pacific Catch and Pica Pica Arepa Kitchen return this year, and enjoying a Hawaiian Ahi Poke or a Sweet Corn Arepa has become a rite of passage for festivalgoers. Some other options on the menu include Olive-Oil Fried-Egg Sandwiches, Porcini Doughnuts with Raclette Cheese, Alfajores, Pastrami Cheese Fries, Waffles and Fried Chicken, and Stone Fruit & Wildflower Honey Melts. Snacks range from sweet to healthy indulgences: Furikake Chex Mix, Mini Doughnut Sundaes, Bourbon Coke Floats, freshly cracked Thai Coconuts, Green Juices, or Vegan Fudge Popsicles.
On the food truck and food cart front, Outside Lands welcomes newcomers Lady Falcon Coffee Club, serving Mochas with Homemade Ganache and Cascara Teas with Mexican Whip, and Jackrabbit, with its Lamb Burger Sliders and Crispy Sushi Rice Cakes, in addition to the festival’s roster of nine returning veterans like Chairman Truck, Rocko’s Ice Cream Tacos, and Curry Up Now.
Beer Lands
Dave McLean, founder and brewmaster of San Francisco’s Magnolia Brewing Company and Alembic Bar, has created a beer lineup of 28 breweries that showcase Northern California’s eclectic and expansive beer culture. Altamont Beer Works, Alvarado Street, Black Sands Brewery, Laughing Monk, and Oakland United Beerworks will join returning favorites like 21st Amendment, Faction Brewing, Local Brewing Company, and Ace Cider.
Returning long-standing partners Heineken and Strongbow will be featured throughout the entire festival grounds. A local favorite, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., will be back at Outside Lands 2017 as the Official Craft Beer partner, serving their legendary Pale Ale and an assortment of seasonal and specialty beers.
Wine Lands
As always, Wine Lands curator Peter Eastlake sources some of California’s top wineries. 2017 newcomers include the pioneers of Zinfandel, Ravenswood, Ehren Jordan’s exceptional Failla Chardonnay & Pinot Noir, SLO Down with the wildly popular “Sexual Chocolate” Red Blend, Hoxie Spritzer, serving dry wine spritzers, and Japanese sake served on tap with Bushido “Way of the Warrior,” along with a range of other stellar Japanese sakes from importer Vine Connections. Joining these exciting additions to Wine Lands are returning favorites Turley Wine Cellars, The Prisoner, Scribe, Banshee, Wind Gap-Pax, and Scharffenberger’s incredible Anderson Valley bubbles. Also new this year, Outside Lands has teamed up with San Francisco based Steelys Drinkware to develop a special limited-edition reusable stainless steel wine cup that can be purchased to taste over 120 wines at Wine Lands, or used on a backpacking adventure after the festival.
Complementing Outside Lands’ wine experience, guests will find The Back Wine, a sip and putt mini golf area offering wines from Cannonball Wine Company. Cannonball California Cabernet Sauvignon and Cannonball Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc will also be featured as the festival’s house wine partner. Santa Rita Secret Reserve Red Blend and Cavit Pinot Grigio will be available as the premium wine offering throughout the festival grounds. VIP ticketholders will enjoy the inaugural launch of Palm Bay International’s “Rosé All the Way,” a bar experience that offers rosé wines from around the world.
Cheese Lands
Cheese Lands satisfies all forms of savory cravings with artisans on hand to serve guests warm, gooey Swiss Raclette ‘Nachos’, loaves of fresh baked French bread, cheeses by the dozen, and boards of charcuterie. Cheese Lands is curated by Thalassa Skinner of Culture, America’s magazine for cheese lovers, in partnership with Napa Valley’s Long Meadow Ranch.
Outside Clams
Outside Clams will again be helmed by festival veteran Woodhouse Fish Co. An ode to crustaceans, the menu features Dungeness Crab Rolls, Raw and BBQ Oysters, Lobster Rolls, and Clam Chowder Bread Bowls. It is conveniently located next to Wine Lands for easy pairings of oysters and crisp California whites.
Choco Lands
Choco Lands continues to be an enchanting destination for all things sugary and delicious. Guittard Chocolate Company, a Bay Area fixture, gives visitors a peek into chocolate making and pours warm Liquid Chocolate Bars. There is also Kara’s Cupcakes’ Artisan Cupcakes and Karamel Corn, Sharona’s Chocolate Shop’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups and Chocolate Covered Brownies, Candybar Dessert Lounge’s Hot Chocolate and Chocolate French Macarons, and Epic Cookies.
GastroMagic
For performances that bring food, music and entertainment to life, ticketholders should swing by GastroMagic, a stage devoted to fantastical entertainment in the way of star personalities, food, cocktails, comedy, improv, music, and of course, sorcery. The GastroMagic lineup will be shared in the coming weeks.
Cocktail Magic
Five of the Bay Area’s most celebrated cocktail bars will once again come together to serve specialty drinks as well as timeless classics. The Cocktail Magic lineup will also be shared in the coming weeks.
Outside Lands 2016 – Photos courtesy of Grandstand HQ